Corrupter

A corrupter casts arcane spells in the same manner as a bard and selects spells known from the bard spell list; however, she uses a different spell progression as indicated on Table: The Corrupter.

Like a bard, all of her spells have a verbal component. To learn or cast a spell, a corrupter must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level.

The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against her spells is 10 + the spell level + her Charisma modifier.

A corrupter can assume an alternate form, taking on the form of any Humanoid within one size category of her natural form. This ability is a standard action usable once per day per class level.

While using this ability, the corrupter gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Deception checks to disguise herself as a creature of her chosen form.

A corrupter frequently uses this ability to appear pleasing or desirable to her targets and uses every tool of temptation in her repertoire to lead a mortal to damnation.

Once per day per class level, as a standard action, a corrupter can spiritually attack a creature in an attempt to gain greater influence over it. This ability only works on mortals. (A mortal is any creature with Intelligence 3 or higher that is not a construct, elemental, outsider, or undead.) A successful Will save (DC 10 + the corrupter’s class level + her Charisma modifier) negates this effect. A creature that fails this save becomes the corrupter’s Prey but is not aware that they have been marked.

A corrupter gains a profane bonus equal to her class level on all Insight, Intimidate, and Persuasion checks made against her prey. This ability remains in effect until the corrupter uses this ability on a new target or releases her prey (as a free action). Each day, a prey creature attempts a new Will save to remove this effect.

At 1st level, a corrupter can maintain one creature at a time as prey. She can maintain a second at 3rd level and up to three at 5th level.

Once per day per class level, a corrupter can bestow her favor upon a willing touched creature as a standard action. This is a [Curse] effect.

The corrupter’s favor grants the target creature a +1 profane bonus to an ability score of the corrupter’s choice. This bonus lasts for one day. After the first day, the target is afflicted with a potent curse and suffers a -1 profane penalty to the same ability score for one day per corrupter level.

At each level after 1st, the profane bonus and penalty each increase by 1, to a maximum of a +6 bonus and a -6 penalty at 6th level. Additionally, at 6th level, a corrupter can choose to expend two uses of faithless favor at once to double the duration of both the bonus and later penalty (2 days for the bonus and 12 days for the penalty).

When a corrupter grants her favor, she may choose one or more of the following options, in any combination:

• Grant Favor: Apply a new instance of the curse, as described above. Multiple instances can be granted, each affecting a different ability score.
• Grant Partial Favor: Apply a new instance of the curse with a bonus lower than the maximum she can grant. This does not reduce the later penalty.
• Extend Curse: Reset the duration of one or more existing penalties of the corrupter’s choice to one day per corrupter level. This does not grant a new bonus.
• Break Curse: Remove one or more instances of this curse of the corrupter’s choice.

A corrupter is often happy to freely offer this ability to any who will accept it, at least at first. The first taste is free, but when the target is suffering from the penalty, a price for restoring the bonus must be paid. The corrupter is happy to trade her favor for small favors in return, but each time, that price gets a little higher.

Beginning at 2nd level, when a corrupter uses Faithless Favor, her target makes a Will save (DC 10 + the corrupter’s class level + her Charisma modifier + 2 if the target is her prey).

On a failed saved, the cursed creature is convinced that the corrupter’s favor is a great boon, is unwilling to blame to corrupter for any hardships resulting from the curse, and refuses to recognize any penalties or negative effects of the curse—attributing them to bad luck, having lost the corrupter’s favor, or some other factor outside of the corrupter’s control.

On a successful Will save, the target recognizes the curse and may make one Will save at the same DC each day to attempt to remove the curse. (The curse still ends normally at the end of its duration.)

Each time a creature is targeted by Faithless Favor, they receive a new save against this deception. A successful save allows the creature to recognize all ongoing instances of this curse, but a failed save deceives the creature about all instances, even those previously recognized, convincing them that it is only beneficial. Only the most recent save is counted.

At 5th level, the corrupter becomes immune to any effect that would read her thoughts, divine her truthfulness, or magically discern her alignment, such as detect thoughts, discern lies, or detect evil. The Insight skill and other non-magical means still function normally, but the corrupter gains a bonus against any such checks equal to her class level. This stacks with the bonus from Corrupting Influence when dealing with her prey.

Beginning at 2nd level, a corrupter can use the read thoughts psionic power as a supernatural ability, except that it only functions on her prey. After successfully reading her prey’s thoughts, her prey becomes confused for 1 round. After using this ability, the corrupter must wait 1 minute before using it again.

By uttering a mental command, a corrupter can urge her prey to to perform some specific action. The prey is not compelled to follow this command, but if it refuses to immediately follow the command, it suffers a -4 penalty to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and skill and ability checks until the corrupter’s next turn. Her prey rightly believes that any penalty they suffer from this is due to incurring the corruptor’s displeasure.

A corrupter may use this ability as an immediate action at the start of her prey’s turn to issue one of the following commands:

Attack

The prey uses a standard or full-round action to attack a target with a weapon or casts a harmful spell on a target. The corrupter can mentally suggest a target, but the prey is not required to attack the suggested target; it does not suffer a penalty as long as it makes at least one attack against any creature.

Drop

The prey immediately drops whatever it is holding. It can’t pick up any dropped item until its next turn.

Fall

The prey drops to the ground, becoming prone. It may act normally while prone but takes any appropriate penalties. It may also take an action to stand without suffering the penalty.

Halt

The prey delays its action. After delaying, if it chooses to act before its next turn, the prey suffers no penalty as long as at least one other creature has fully completed its turn. Its initiative is adjusted as normal for delaying.

Move

The prey uses a move action to move as quickly and directly as possible. It provokes attacks of opportunity for this movement as normal. The corrupter can mentally suggest a location, but the prey is not required to move to that location; it does not suffer a penalty as long as it moves its full normal move speed in some direction or moves to the suggested location.

Support

They prey uses Aid Another to grant a character a +2 bonus on an attack roll or to AC. Alternatively, the corrupter can command her prey to use Aid Another on a skill check. The corrupter can mentally suggest a target, but the prey is not required to aid the suggested target; it does not suffer a penalty as long as it aids any creature.

At 4th level, a corrupter adds +2 to the save DC of any charm, compulsion, or curse ability she uses against her prey, including her Faithless Favor ability.

A 5th level corrupter can use atonement at will as a supernatural ability, but only to offer non-Evil creatures the chance to change their alignment to Evil or to restore the class features of a creature who just became evil, such as a successfully tempted paladin. This ability requires a 1 hour ritual, much like the atonement spell, but it does not require a focus or material components. The corrupter must pay any XP costs as if she had cast the spell.

Once per month, a 6th-level corrupter can cast limited wish as a spell-like ability for a mortal. The chosen mortal makes all determinations about the wording and effects of the wish as if they were the caster, but the corrupter must provide the normal XP cost, material components, and any other costs of casting limited wish as a spell. So, she is often unwilling to use this ability without being well compensated for it.

Once and only once per individual mortal, a corrupter can cast wish as a spell-like ability after forming a Soul Bargain (see below). This wish can only be used for the corrupter to uphold her end of the soul bargain. She must provide the normal XP cost, material components, and other costs of casting the wish spell but she makes all decisions rather than the mortal. This does not count as her normal use of limited wish. While a corrupter has this option, she rarely ever uses it if she has another option due to the high cost involved.

A 6th-level corrupter gains the ability to bargain for a mortal’s soul, forming a binding pact that transfers the mortal’s soul to her instantly upon death by any means. The mortal must enter the pact willingly (not under mental manipulation or through coercion, including coercion against a 3rd party), and the corrupter must uphold any agreements she makes as part of the pact.

Bargaining for a soul requires a 1 hour ritual, at the end of which both parties must agree to the terms of the pact. Once the two have agreed, a soul gem is formed which will claim the soul of the mortal upon death as by a soul bind spell, though this has no maximum range and works even across planes and in areas of antimagic. The soul gem is formed as part of using this ability at no additional cost to the corrupter.

Destroying the soul gem is the only means by which a soul pact can be broken by the mortal or a 3rd party. If the corrupter fails to uphold her part of the pact, the soul gem dissolves into nothingness and the soul pact is broken; however, the mortal is not made aware of this fact.

In addition to the normal uses for soul gems, a corrupter gains the following uses for souls.

Flawless Likeness

A corrupter can use her alternate form ability to take on a flawless likeness of the mortal trapped in the soul gem as long as she carries the soul gem with her. Even a true seeing effect reveals her as that individual as long as she remains in that form.

She also gains a +10 circumstance bonus on any skill check to act like the individual or convince others that she is that individual.

Effects that can read the surface thoughts of a creature, such as the detect thoughts spell, reveal false surface thoughts appropriate to the original creature, adding to the corrupter’s disguise; however, effects which probe into a creature’s deeper thoughts reveal nothing, blocked by the corrupter’s Mind Shielding ability.

However, the soul in the gem can only be drawn on for so long before it becomes exhausted. A corrupter can maintain her flawless likeness of an individual for a number of hours per day equal to the trapped soul’s Hit Dice, after which she can only use her normal alternate form ability to mimic that individual.

Soul-Fueled Temptations

A corrupter can draw upon a trapped soul whose soul gem she carries when casting her atonement, limited wish, or wish spell-like abilities. The corrupter can drain consumable experience from the soul gem to pay the XP cost of casting her wish or limited wish spell-like abilities.

Unlike when using the Soul-Powered Magic feat, the soul gem is not destroyed until all consumable experience has been drained, allowing a corrupter to potentially use this ability multiple times with the same gem.

A corrupter can use these abilities on any soul gem she possesses, even if she gained that gem through means other than this ability.